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Just wanted to know if there are any brave souls willing or thinking about retrofitting their F30's to have hydraulic steering.... or is such feat is even possible??? I am only asking because my friend let me drive both his 2013 F30 m-sport and his 2008 E90 and the difference in steering made me regret ordering my F30 (arrives on 31th of October). But anyways, anyone thought of this or is thinking about it?

Can anyone explain why heavier steering is better? What tangible performance impact does it make?

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This is the $64,000 question and don't hold your breath for an answer! Complaining about the F30 steering became a thing of fashion! I haven't received my car yet but I so want to start my own F30 steering complain thread!

Heavier is not better. It is the lack of steering communication which is the issue.

It is the difference between:

1. "You are getting close to the limit." "Your are now right on the edge." "That little bit more throttle brought it back to 9/10s."

- and -

2. "You are cornering." "Sure is a corner." "Whoa, you are out of control and spinning."

Which 99% of those on this forum never get close to and then the 1% who do only do it on a closed course. And, surprisingly enough, none of the professionals who have taken the 3er to the limit have reported they feared its steering put them in danger of exceeding the car's limits.

A good car communicates what is happening at all times, under all conditions.

A poorly communicating car informs you of only the big, obvious things such as "you are turning a corner" but nothing about the surface, the undulations, the camber, etc.

A car with good feedback is fun to drive; a car without, dull. I am certain you are familiar with the criticisms of a '70's Buick with a floating suspension and overboosted steering - awful on any road.

It takes nothing more than backing down a driveway to know and feel the difference between a good and bad driving car. It has nothing to do with being on a track (which is not where an F30 belongs in any event - its an entry level luxury car, not a performance machine.) This does not mean it should not communicate well however.

A good car communicates what is happening at all times, under all conditions.

A poorly communicating car informs you of only the big, obvious things such as "you are turning a corner" but nothing about the surface, the undulations, the camber, etc.

A car with good feedback is fun to drive; a car without, dull. I am certain you are familiar with the criticisms of a '70's Buick with a floating suspension and overboosted steering - awful on any road.

It takes nothing more than backing down a driveway to know and feel the difference between a good and bad driving car. It has nothing to do with being on a track (which is not where an F30 belongs in any event - its an entry level luxury car, not a performance machine.) This does not mean it should not communicate well however.

As, I suspect, are you.

Over the past seven years I've owned a 2000 E46 328i non-sport, a 2004 E46 330i ZHP, and a 2006 E90 330i with sport package and active steering. It turns out my first car was a 70's Buick, a 1972 Buick Skylark.

I don't own an F30, but I have driven a number of them - a 2012 328i Luxury, a 2012 328i Sport, a 2013 328i xDrive Sport, a 2013 328i xDrive M Sport, a 2013 335 xDrive Luxury, and a 2014 320i xDrive. (xDrive - gotta love living in Chicago. Apparently without it you're in danger of sliding off into Lake Michigan.)

From my experience it is my opinion the hysteria exhibited on Bimmerfest over the EPS on the F3x is completely out of proportion to reality.

A good car communicates what is happening at all times, under all conditions.

A poorly communicating car informs you of only the big, obvious things such as "you are turning a corner" but nothing about the surface, the undulations, the camber, etc.

A car with good feedback is fun to drive; a car without, dull.

A good car does not just communicate well. It does lots of things well. You yourself are oversimplifying things. Communicating the road has nothing to do with how well a car performs, only it's uninformed driver benefits from it. A driver who is well acquainted with his car and road he is driving on does not need to feel it out, he knows what it can do because he has pushed it to the limit. I Does it add the fun factor, yes but so do other features. We all think the EPS could do with tuning, but it does not make the F30 any less sporty in terms of performance.

I think we all also know that tire choice plays a major factor in steering feel, and the run flats definitely are not great for this.

Now, wait a minute, modern runflats are great tires, esp. those rated for my 146 mph top. I can throw my F30 into turns exactly as nicely as in my E36 and E46. And the new steering is lovely (though I have only done my 7000 miles in Sport mode). Now to investigate what it will cost to insure my car for a day for a track event. On my runflats.

I test drove an S4 the other day and its steering has become really light as well with the switch to electric. At slow speeds its ridiculously light. This is with everything set to "dynamic". But for some reason you see very little talk on the Audi forums about the change in steering. I can't really say it had any more feedback than the BMW unit.

By the way the S4 is a great car but the steering is not, at least not at the speeds and roads I was driving on.

A good car communicates what is happening at all times, under all conditions.

A poorly communicating car informs you of only the big, obvious things such as "you are turning a corner" but nothing about the surface, the undulations, the camber, etc.

A car with good feedback is fun to drive; a car without, dull. I am certain you are familiar with the criticisms of a '70's Buick with a floating suspension and overboosted steering - awful on any road.

It takes nothing more than backing down a driveway to know and feel the difference between a good and bad driving car. It has nothing to do with being on a track (which is not where an F30 belongs in any event - its an entry level luxury car, not a performance machine.) This does not mean it should not communicate well however.

The value of this debate all hinges on what % of your driving this all actually matters?

Most of us would prefer to err on the side of ride comfort vs. feeling every nuance of the road). The 328i is a sport sedan. Not a sports car. The good news is BMW offers us more choices now so if you want a car that feels like a race car there are other models and options for that.

The complaints about EPS vs HPS are overblown but what the E90 HPS does is give you real security about the build up of loads in a turn. My morning drive takes me through a neighborhood with a few curves. I don't take them fast as it's a residential area but this morning I really noticed how well my E90 steering tightens through the turn. You just feel the slip angles (difference between the angle of the tire and that of the wheel) through the steering wheel. The F30 does this as well bu it feels artificial a light. It's not as bad as many make here but the mechanical element is missing.

That said, when my F30 arrives in a few weeks, I'll miss the E90 steering but appreciate the smoother ride, extra room, much improved interior layout and equal cornering limits.

I saw a review of the new 428 that sounds like BMW may have tuned more feel back into this car. Perhaps it's something that a software update will fix?

The 4 series has a lowered center of gravity and a stiffer chassis. That's the main reason for the improved steering feel. However, a recent short take in Car and Driver was not complimentary about the 4 series steering. The October edition has a lot of info on the F30 vs E90 steering issue.

The complaints about EPS vs HPS are overblown but what the E90 HPS does is give you real security about the build up of loads in a turn. My morning drive takes me through a neighborhood with a few curves. I don't take them fast as it's a residential area but this morning I really noticed how well my E90 steering tightens through the turn. You just feel the slip angles (difference between the angle of the tire and that of the wheel) through the steering wheel. The F30 does this as well bu it feels artificial a light. It's not as bad as many make here but the mechanical element is missing.

That said, when my F30 arrives in a few weeks, I'll miss the E90 steering but appreciate the smoother ride, extra room, much improved interior layout and equal cornering limits.

I think a lot of people that are complaining have xdrive, non M-Sport lines, non-DHP cars and all-season tires. Those are a lot of parameters that might explain some of what we're reading on this forum.